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Tuesday, 14 May 2013

LeafsNation - Creating a Torontonian Culture

I'll be brutally honest; this is my first time watching hockey in the last nine years. I guess the last time I watched the Leafs play was when they were last in the playoffs.

Flash forward to March of this year. I am currently a Communications Major and we are discussing culture in class. The question; Does Canada have a Culture? Well, technically it does, but more specifically does Toronto have a culture? Now, that is the bigger question.

Here is the thing. Canada has become vastly multi-cultural, and unlike America, provides a mosaic-style of culture. We as Torontonians experience so many different cultures each day. It's beautiful, because any newcomers can feel right at home. We are multi-cultural.

The problem with that is we don't have anything to call our own. Sure we all come together on Canada Day and watch the fireworks, but that is one day a year. After that, we are no longer Canadian. We go back to our original cultures.

Many people share many other interests, but there is no global interest that has taken the majority. England has Football, America has American Football, some of us have Hockey.

Here's my observation today (and the main point of this post); So many people, regardless of whether they watch the sport, tuned in to CBC and watched Game 7 of the first round in the Playoffs against Boston.
We all came together as Torontonians and shared this idea that we have a sense of culture and identity while watching this game; all supporting the same team and sharing the same dream.
In my Communications class, this would really be a big thing.

The Leafs getting into the playoffs has probably been the greatest thing ever for Toronto. It brought people together; you could approach anyone and just begin talking about hockey. It became our sport and the Leafs became our team. It didn't matter whether we lost; they played their heart out and gave a fantastic show. They made their city proud, and we as fans made our team proud.

What I'm trying to say in this non-coherent blog post is that no matter what, we always need to support our team. At the end of the day, this is our home and supporting it will create a global community.
And one day, very soon, the Leafs will be holding that beautiful Stanley Cup. And this city will go wild.
For now, we can hopefully count on the Blue Jays.